Is My Nine Princes in Amber a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1970, first edition
• Bound in dark cobalt-blue cloth with silver lettering to the spine; copies commonly show the light glue-bleed staining along the gutter margins typical of Doubleday printings of this period
• The first-issue dust jacket carries the printed price on the front flap (the price should be present, not clipped, on an unrestored jacket)
• Much of the original print run was inadvertently destroyed when a company order to pulp remaining stock of Zelazny's earlier Creatures of Light and Darkness was misapplied, making the true first scarce

How Doubleday marked a first edition

• Mid-1958–early 1959: numerical gutter code (1–52) on the last page of text indicating the WEEK of printing. Early 1959–1987: added a LETTER code before the week code indicating the YEAR.

Full Doubleday first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

US Doubleday (Garden City) first hardcover, 1970; cornerstone of the Chronicles of Amber and scarce owing to the accidental pulping of much of the print run.P-028234

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. The Literary Guild, Mystery Guild, and Doubleday Book Club run through this house; their club editions carry a five-digit code block on the jacket and a rear-board blind stamp — not the same as the trade first. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.P-037224

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Nine Princes in Amber a first edition?

A first edition of Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (Doubleday) is identified by: Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York, 1970, first edition.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. US Doubleday (Garden City) first hardcover, 1970; cornerstone of the Chronicles of Amber and scarce owing to the accidental pulping of much of the print run.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

Book-club editions and later printings reprint the text but are not the first edition and are far less collectible. The Literary Guild, Mystery Guild, and Doubleday Book Club run through this house; their club editions carry a five-digit code block on the jacket and a rear-board blind stamp — not the same as the trade first. Use the points above to be certain — see book-club edition vs. first edition.

I have a first edition of Nine Princes in Amber — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.